On Sunday, a Trump tweet asserted that the “fake media” desires to “purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!” His “latest outburst leaves us in a sort of cold war, with President of the United States Donald Trump lobbing nukes against a media that he deems his opposition…. Ultimately, this war, like all wars, will have no real winner. The media will outlast Donald Trump because of the First Amendment. But a price will be paid. We’re just waiting to see how big that price is.”

Though the Rape of Nanking took place 75 years ago, it remains a major irritant troubling the relationship between China and Japan. “What is alarming is that the leaders of Japan…have an understanding of their country’s wartime history that is grounded primarily in fiction.” There can be no question that the notorious event took place given the abundant evidence including eyewitness testimony and film footage. “Japanese denial in the face of all this ensures that a historical event will continue to fan the flames of anger and distrust. The sooner the facts are recognized and Japanese leaders renounce paying tribute to mass killers and rapists, the sooner true healing can begin.”

Forty years ago, the Watergate saga unfolded, ultimately toppling President Richard Nixon. The episode left a deep scar on the American psyche. “Nixon and the Watergate episode did great, perhaps irreparable, harm to the American spirit…. The flag our forefathers raised on the moral high ground looked suddenly shabby and soiled.” Distrust of government and “the presumption of corruption” became the new norm. Today, that distrust continues. We are “a country without faith or trust in its institutions—from the presidency to Congress to the judiciary.”